Witch Bolt

1st level Evocation
Casting Time
1 Action
Range
30 Feet
Duration
Concentration, up to 1 minute
Components
V
S
M
Materials Required
A twig from a tree that has been struck by lightning
Class
Sorcerer
Warlock
Wizard

Spell Description

A beam of crackling, blue energy lances out toward a creature within range, forming a sustained arc of lightning between you and the target. Make a ranged spell attack against that creature. On a hit, the target takes 1d12 lightning damage, and on each of your turns for the duration, you can use your action to deal 1d12 lightning damage to the target automatically. The spell ends if you use your action to do anything else. The spell also ends if the target is ever outside the spell’s range or if it has total cover from you.

At Higher Levels. When you cast this spell using a spell slot of 2nd level or higher, the initial damage increases by 1d12 for each slot level above 1st.

1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th
Damage Dice 1d12 2d12 3d12 4d12 5d12 6d12 7d12 8d12 9d12
Min Damage 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
Average Damage 6.5 13 19.5 26 32.5 39 45.5 52 58.5
Max Damage 12 24 36 48 60 72 84 96 108
Lvl Dice Min Avg Max
1st 1d12 1 6.5 12
2nd 2d12 2 13 24
3rd 3d12 3 19.5 36
4th 4d12 4 26 48
5th 5d12 5 32.5 60
6th 6d12 6 39 72
7th 7d12 7 45.5 84
8th 8d12 8 52 96
9th 9d12 9 58.5 108

Is Witch Bolt Good?

Overall Rating: Red. This means that witch bolt isn’t going to contribute to the effectiveness of your character build at all.

Overall Notes: Underwhelming damage, requires your action and concentration, and can be thwarted by simply stepping out of range.